1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an electronic card connector having a card ejection mechanism, and in particular to a card ejection mechanism having a locking device.
2. The Prior Art
Electronic cards, such as Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) cards and flash memory cards, are widely used for expanding resources of a computer or a consumer electronic device. An electronic card connector is incorporated in a computer or consumer electronic device to connect an electronic card therewith. The electronic card connector is equipped with a card ejection mechanism for selectively ejecting an electronic card from the connector. Examples of electronic card connectors are disclosed in Taiwan Patent Application Nos. 80207449, 81216447, 81217278, 82211746, 83111731, and 85103753 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,290,174, 5,324,204 and 5,507,658.
FIG. 1 of the attached drawings shows a conventional electronic card connector 6 comprising an insulative header 60 retaining conductive contacts 603 therein and a shielding member 61 for shielding the contacts 603. Two projections 602 extend from opposite ends of the header 60 and define a card receiving space 601 therebetween for receiving an electronic card (not shown). A card ejection mechanism 5 comprises a plate 53 mounted to the header 60 and two guide arms 50 extending therefrom corresponding to the projections 602 of the header 60. A push bar 54 is slidably mounted to one of the guide arms 50 and has a knob 501 fixed to a free end thereof for manual actuation thereby moving the push bar 54 from an outer position to an inner position. A card ejection member 51 is coupled to the push bar 54 by means of a rocking member 52. The movement of the push bar 54 from the outer position to the inner position drives the card ejection member 51 to move between the guide arms 50 thereby ejecting the electronic card out of the connector 6.
The knob 501 of the push bar 54 is located outside the connector 6 for facilitating manual actuation. Since the knob 501 is exposed, it may be easily damaged due to undesired collision thereof with other objects. A push-push type ejection mechanism overcomes such a problem. The push-push ejection mechanism temporarily fixes the push bar at the inner position after a first push thereof for partially enclosing the push bar 54 inside the connector 6 thereby reducing the chance of collision. A second push of the push bar 54 releases the push bar 54 from the fixed, inner position for allowing manual operation of the push bar.
A disadvantage of the conventional push-push type ejection mechanism is that inadvertent contact of the knob may undesirably release the push bar from the inner position. It is thus desired to provide an ejection mechanism having a locking device to alleviate the problem discussed above.